the gift and the giver

When my daughter was three, we lived in an apartment complex. Our next-door neighbors were a lovely elderly couple who adored our kids. Almost every time the wife saw our daughter, she had something deliciously sweet to offer. Hard candies, lollipops, biscuits, chocolate – you name it.

One afternoon, I was hanging laundry outside on our balcony, with my daughter by my side. The husband from next door appeared on his balcony, and immediately my daughter shouted from our balcony to his, “Where’s your wife?” He poked his head inside to tell his spouse that she was being summoned, and a few seconds later, she appeared within view.

Without a greeting, but in her sweetest voice, my daughter inquired, “What do you have for me today, Auntie?”

Don’t we often do the same thing with God?

We wake up in the morning and say, “What do you have for me today, God?”

Too often our prayers sound something like this: “Dear God, please help me get the job I applied for … please give us a bigger house now that we have a new baby … please give us a car that doesn’t break down as often as ours does ….”

Instead of cherishing God for who He is, we love Him for what He gives us. Too often, we value His gifts more than the Giver.

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